In a groundbreaking move last year, India and the United Nations launched the ‘India-UN Capacity Building Initiative’, which aims to share the South Asian nation’s development experiences, best practices, and expertise with partner countries in the Global South.

In December last year, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Parliament that India has extended lines of credit ‘worth $32.02 billion’ for infra projects in Asian and African countries.

Line of Credit

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, said that these funds have supported more than 600 projects in sectors ranging from infrastructure, power, connectivity and health.

Providing a breakup of the line of credit amount, Muraleedharan said about $17.06 billion has gone to countries in Asia, $12.15 billion to those in Africa, and $2.81 billion to countries elsewhere. Further, grant assistance projects with countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan have also been set up as part of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. The Parliament was also told that the government is also offering capacity-building assistance to its partners in the Global South under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC).

“Around 160 countries benefit from these scholarships every year. More than 14,000 training slots are available annually for civilian and defence courses,” V. Muraleedharan had said. Via ITEC, India has helped countries like Afghanistan, Lithuania, Maldives, Nepal, etc, and scholarships were also announced for Pacific Island Countries in May 2023.